Reality Bites
by La'rosh
Summary: Weir and Sheppard journey to another reality. But they may get more than they bargained for. And can they get back? Sparky, SG-1/Atlantis crossover
1. More different than expected

Disclaimer: They ain't mine. I just like to play.

**Chapter 1: More different than expected**

"Are you sure about this?"

Lt. Col. John Sheppard shifted his gaze to the woman standing next to him. Dr. Elizabeth Weir looked determined. He probably could talk her out of it, but he didn't want to. She had explained her reasoning, and he had to admit she had a point. So here they were, about to stick their hands in that glassy oval hole in the wall (a quantum mirror according to McKay) with not much clue what they'd find on the other side.

"I'm trying to think of all the things we'll gain, rather than what could go wrong at the moment."

For a second her expression slipped, revealing the anxiousness she was feeling, though only John noticed.

"Right. Well, on three?" He smiled.

"One."

"Two." Elizabeth joined him, speaking in almost perfect unison.

"Three." At that moment, their hands entered the mirror's glassy surface, sending a wave of light across their bodies. They removed their hands and looked into the mirror. Ford, Teyla, McKay, and Zelenka were gathered inside it, looking through the hole at them. Then, the window disappeared, leaving them alone in another reality.

Well, not quite alone.

They were no longer in Atlantis. They were on Earth, the ancient outpost to be exact. They had appeared out of an oval hole in the wall. Before, they had thought it was just an architectural design. But now they knew better.

For Elizabeth, it was like jumping back in time. She had spent every waking moment here during the last months before they left for Atlantis. She could see all the members of the expedition. Rodney and Carson stood by the chair, Zelenka and Grodin were by the drone they had been examining, and various other scientists were scattered around the room. But something was missing. She wasn't there, or at least this reality's version of her. Also missing, excluding the man standing next to her, was John Sheppard.

Although he spent only a few days here, Col. Sheppard had equally vivid memories of the outpost. His life had changed here. It had veered of in a totally new direction with no steering wheel. First, there was that drone that took a bit of tricky flying to avoid. Then, he found out that this place he was flying to was actually built by aliens. After that, to make things even crazier, he sat in that chair and it turned out he had some alien gene that made him activate lots of alien technology. It was a whole lot of alien for one man to deal with. By the time he regained control of his life, he was in a whole other galaxy. But, though he had unsure at the time, he liked the way fate was leading him. Everything he had experienced before was a walk in the park compared to the things he got to do in Atlantis.

Jerking both John and Elizabeth back from their thoughts, Gen. Jack O'Neill walked out of the elevator. His eyes, following the lead of the entire room, rested on the newcomers.

"What the – but you were just-," he said, tapering off and looking utterly confused.

John realized the General must be talking about him. He remembered McKay using Col. Carter's explanation of quantum mirrors. _"Like forks in the road," _he thought. He had been the pilot flying Gen. O'Neill's helicopter. Except this time, Beckett hadn't sent a drone at him and he never got security clearance. It was amazing how something like this made perfect sense now.

Dr. Weir was first to break the silence. "I know this might sound crazy to you, but we found a quantum mirror in Atlantis and we came out of that hole over there." She pointed over at the now quite innocent looking wall. This seemed to only deepen the confused expressions around her.

"Well, as much as I'd like to continue this conversation now, you two don't have clearance to be here. I'm going to recommend you be taken back to Cheyenne Mountain for questioning," Jack said. _I should have known that mirror thing was gonna come back to bite me. I'm sure Carter'll have a wonderful technical explanation to brighten up my day._

Elizabeth sighed. She should have expected something like this. But it was too late now. "That's fine, I understand." Cooperation was the only way they would ever get to explain what was going on.

An officer walked over to them. "Could you come with me please?" Sheppard recognized him as Bates, the commander of the second Atlantis team, who he didn't much like at the moment because of his distrust of Teyla. He was about to say something, But Elizabeth grabbed his arm. "No," she mouthed at him. Now it was his turn to sigh. Why had he come on the mission again? Oh, right, to make sure Dr. Weir didn't get hurt. Well, that was something he would make sure he accomplished, if nothing else. And with that, they entered the elevator and headed toward the surface, on their way to the SGC and a cheery interrogation room.


	2. Interrogations

**Chapter 2: Interrogations **

Gen. O'Neill, Col. Sam Carter, and Dr. Daniel Jackson gathered around the briefing room table watching an interrogation tape.

"_Alright, let's start from the beginning. How do you know about the Stargate?"_

"_Well, firstly I'd like to reiterate that we are from an alternate reality, so what I say won't necessarily apply. I guess it all started about a year ago when President Henry Hayes was elected. He thought that when the SGC finally went public, which he assured me it would, people would react better to a civilian rather than a military General. So the new president brought me in and proceeded to tell me all about the goings on under Cheyenne Mountain, then led me to a room full of file boxes. I have read every mission report and document coming out of this base since its inception. And, trust me, it wasn't light reading. A good part of my few weeks in command were spent reading." Dr. Weir smiled._

"_What happened after that?"_

"_By that time, then Col. O'Neill had been rescued from Antarctica. He replaced me as base commander and I headed work on the Ancient outpost."_

Jack used his remote to stop the tape. "Do we know her?"

"There's no reason why we should, if she is from an alternate reality like she says," Sam answered. They both looked over at Daniel.

"Hmm, well, I do remember a Dr. Elizabeth Weir. She's a diplomat. I referenced some of her work when we were drafting the Tok'ra alliance."

"Anything else?" Jack asked.

"I looked her up this morning and couldn't find her. I did, however, find a Dr. Elizabeth Sheppard. She only uses the Weir name at work." He opened a file in front of him.

Gen. O'Neill thought for a moment. "Sheppard…isn't that the pilot's name?"

Daniel smiled. "It also says that she is married to Maj. John Sheppard and they have a 5 year old daughter, Katherine."

"They didn't act like they were married."

"They probably aren't in their reality," Sam explained.

Daniel picked up the remote. "Shall we watch Maj. Sheppard's tape?"

Jack, looking up from something he was doodling on his notepad, grabbed the remote back from Daniel. "Hey, that's my job!"

Daniel rolled his eyes in Sam's direction. They both smiled just slightly enough so that Jack wouldn't notice. But, of course, he did.

"I'll pretend I didn't see that," Jack added.

"_How do you know about the Stargate?"_

"_Well, I was flying Gen O'Neill's plane to the outpost when Dr. Beckett accidentally sent a drone at me. Because of that, the General gave me security clearance and I was brought down to the outpost. I wandered around a bit and eventually got to the chair. Beckett explained what it did and I sat down, figuring "What's the chance of me having this gene?" Well it turned out I had it, and I was apparently a natural at working all the Ancient stuff. Then, Dr. Weir and everyone else ran in and she decided to make sure I was on the Atlantis expedition. So I was told all about the Stargate and then we left for Atlantis."_

Jack stopped the tape again. Daniel was getting increasingly more excited by the minute.

"They found a way to get to Atlantis?"

Sam nodded. "Apparently."

"So they could tell us what the address is. Jack, this is big!"

Jack sighed. _Just what I need, an excited Daniel on my hands. _"I know, Daniel, but we're not going anywhere until we get our visitors home in one piece."

"Well, sir, I think we should bring them in so we can learn more," Sam suggested.

"Good idea." Jack turned towards the man standing by the door. "Could you bring our guests to the briefing room?"

"Yes, sir."

"Thank you, airman."

--

Col. Sheppard and Dr. Weir sat in a room that could only be described as bland. John figured a decorator would go insane in here. The sole furniture consisted of two bunks, a table, and chairs, all in the same grey as the walls. He was also acutely aware of the camera pointed at him.

Sitting at the table, he turned his head to look at Elizabeth, who sat on one of the bunks leaning forward with her head in her hands.

"Bored?"

"No. Just thinking."

"About what?"

"Do you have to be so curious?"

"Yep." He grinned. At least he had some sort of entertainment.

"Well, I was trying to figure out why this reality is so different."

"And?"

"We only turned the controller dial a little. The farther you turn it, the more different the reality is. So either we turned it too far without realizing it, or something went wrong."

"I like the first choice."

She laughed. "Me, too." She paused for a moment. "So what are you thinking about?"

"Why?"

"If you can be curious, I can be curious." She got up and sat opposite him at the table. He could tell she was having fun now.

"Hmm… I was just wondering whether we've ever met in this reality."

Elizabeth thought about it. It was a good question. "I guess since neither of us are involved with the SGC, we may not have. Then again we could have met some other way. You never know."

"Maybe we'll find out when we get out of here."

Right on cue, the door opened and an airman entered.

"Ma'am, sir, you're wanted in the briefing room."

John slightly smirked in Elizabeth's direction. She rolled her eyes, and they both got up and followed the airman to the briefing room.


	3. Understatement of the Century

How long has it been since I've updated this? I know, I'm sorry. I love all your reviews, thanks for the encouragement! I could say that I got writer's block, but that's really only half the problem. I've really got no excuse except for my own stupid busyness.

So here goes another chapter. Hope you like!

La'rosh

**Chapter 3: Understatement of the Century**

**The Briefing Room; 1 hour later**

"Woah!" It was all Jack could say. _I thought my job was hard_,he thought.

"Atlantis makes the Stargate program sound like child's play," Sam said, voicing what he had been thinking.

"Oh, now don't start making us out to be great big heroes. The only reason I'm here at all is because of my genes," John said, though obviously enjoying the attention.

Elizabeth managed to keep from kicking him. Across the table, Sam smiled. These two might not be married, but she could certainly see it. She had experienced the same thing herself with alternate realities. It really made you rethink your life, especially when you can see right in front of you how it could have turned out.

"Well, despite how much I know he is actually enjoying this, he is right. We don't want any special treatment; we came to learn," Elizabeth said in her best serious diplomatic voice.

Daniel spoke up. "What could you learn from us? You're the ones that found Atlantis." You could tell he was still a bit excited by the thought of the Lost City.

"We didn't expect to end up here. We thought since we started at Atlantis, we'd end up in an alternate version of it, not back on Earth. We were exploring. Who knows, maybe we would have learned something we couldn't have at home."

From his experience, Jack didn't know why anyone would get mixed up with quantum mirrors by choice. Although, he knew they could get a whole crowd of scientist ready to stick their hands in one. Personally, he thought alternate realities were pretty overrated.

"Well, now that you've got the story, could I make a suggestion?" John said, looking inquiringly at Jack with his best 'I've been a good boy, reward me' face.

"That depends on what it is." Jack was starting to like this guy. He was a little cocky, but he could see a good soldier and person. After reading his record, Sheppard was beginning to remind him of himself.

"Well, I don't mean to sound self-centered, sir, but I think our counterparts in this reality could be helpful to your own Atlantis expedition. I was serious about the DNA thing. I have the strongest ATA gene of anyone on the expedition, I can work Ancient technology without even trying. As for Dr. Weir, I believe she is the best leader we could have and has earned the respect of both military and civilians alike. I know your government, like ours, will probably want a military commander, but frankly, I think McKay would gather all the scientists and strike." He grinned at the thought. "What I'm trying to say is that she has united a group that started out divided and bickering." He leaned back in his chair and waited for a reply.

"You've made some good points. I agree with you, but I'm not the only one that gets to decide," Jack said, surprised at the eloquence Col. Sheppard showed on the subject of Dr. Weir as leader. It almost seemed that he had used the argument before.

"We've assigned you guest quarters, since they're much more comfortable than holding rooms," Daniel said. John and Elizabeth smiled.

"Thank you." Elizabeth glanced at her wrist. "It's almost 2140 Atlantis Standard. I could use some sleep."

"Atlantis Standard?" Sam asked with amusement.

Elizabeth grinned. "Well you can't expect the sun to rise and fall at the same time in another galaxy, can you?"

Everyone got up from their chairs.

"Oh, by the way, what did we end up doing instead of the Stargate program?" John asked.

Daniel answered. "Well, you," looking toward Elizabeth, "are still in diplomacy, and you," to John, "work at the Pentagon."

John imagined his life here for a moment.

"I like my reality. Atlantis has got to be more interesting than the Pentagon."

_There's the understatement of the century, _Jack thought. Even he was intrigued, despite his track record with overly scientific and intellectual things. Besides, he'd never been that fond of the Pentagon anyway.

Elizabeth now had a thoughtful look on her face. "I spent a lot of time at the Pentagon earlier in my career." She looked toward John. "It's possible we met."

John laughed. "It's still a boring political office instead of an Ancient chair under the ice of Antarctica."

A slight smirk crossed Elizabeth's lips. "Are you worried what I might have thought of you, Col.?"

"Not at all, I'm sure I was just as irritating."

"You're not irritating, John, you just have a problem with authority."

Daniel cleared his throat. John and Elizabeth looked towards Jack, Sam, and Daniel, realizing they had been ignoring them. Elizabeth stood up, followed by John, trying to finish things up so they could sleep.

"I'll have someone escort you to your rooms," Jack said, as he suppressed a chuckle. They had most definitely met. And Elizabeth had obviously been impressed, Ancient technology or not.

"Well, goodnight, then," Elizabeth said.

--

Jack, Sam, and Daniel walked into Jack's office. Jack sat in his chair behind his desk, while the others made their way to the other side. Gen. O'Neill looked pointedly at the other two.

"So, what do you think?"

Daniel answered first. "I think it's amazing!"

"I think we can agree on that, Daniel, I meant about bringing in our versions of Dr. Weir and Maj.-well, Col., in his case- Sheppard."

"I think Sheppard is right, sir. From what it sounds like, they could be helpful," Col. Carter replied.

"We have to remember that they're married, Sam, and with a 5 year old daughter. What would happen to Katherine?" Daniel countered.

Jack could see his point. "That's true. If we send them to Atlantis, they'll have the wraith and dozens of other dangers to deal with."

"From what he said, they've had children and families in the city before. The Athosians took refuge with them. And besides, we may not have contact with the expedition for months, even years. They'll have to form their own community, and I'm sure having children around would be a plus, if only to boost morale."

"I certainly would have loved to grow up in someplace like Atlantis," Daniel added.

Jack leaned back in his chair, thinking. "We still have to take into consideration whether or not having the two leaders of an expedition married would be a liability. If they can do the job, I'm not going to complain, but I'm sure someone will."

"I think we should call them in and let them decide for themselves. At the very least, they can work with something relating to the Stargate back at the Pentagon," Daniel said.

"Well, then, it's settled. I'll inform the President," Jack concluded, picking up a red phone from his desk.

--

Well, there it is. I'm hoping I can't get this written faster now. Then again, I've had so many ideas for stories floating in my head lately, it's hard to get them all started.

Thanks for all the reviews. You make my day.  And I apologize again for not updating in…what is it, 7 months? Wow. I think I can at least reasonably promise it will be faster than that this time.


	4. The Sheppards

See? I did it.:D I updated. I knew I could do it. Anyway, can't think of much to say since it hasn't been that long.

Sooo…on with the show!

**Chapter 4: The Sheppards**

Elizabeth Sheppard sat at the kitchen table eating a bowl of Cheerios, reading a book, and listening to the crunch of her daughter's chewing.

"Katherine, could you please chew with your mouth closed?"

"Yes, mommy," came the polite reply, though Elizabeth could see her husband's mischievous grin, even from behind the book. _Of all the things she could get from him_, she thought. But she smiled, all the same. That smile happened to be one of her favorite things.

"Eat your breakfast, your dad should be home any minute now."

"Yay!" she exclaimed, and doubled her eating speed.

Just then, they heard the door knob turn, and even Elizabeth got up excitedly and hurried toward the door.

"I'm home!" he called. Elizabeth smiled and gave him a quick kiss.

He grinned. "Nice to see you, too."

A second later, a little brown-haired blur came barreling into him shouting "Daddy!" at the top of her lungs. They both fell into a giggling heap.

"Hey, Kitty!" he said, getting up, his daughter now seemingly permanently attached to his leg. Elizabeth laughed at the picture. It was times like this that she felt like the luckiest girl in the world.

And then the phone rang, making everyone groan.

"I'll get it," she said, and hurried back to the kitchen again. "John, it's for you," she yelled from there. John headed toward the kitchen as well, though rather slower due to one leg being quite a lot heavier than the other.

He took the phone from his wife. "Hello?"

"This is…Okay. Yes, sir…yes, sir, I'll be there right away…bye."

"What was that?" Liz asked. She didn't have a good feeling.

"It's the Air force. We're goin' to Colorado." He looked thoroughly perplexed.

"We? What do you mean we?"

"They…they want both of us to come."

Elizabeth had to work hard to keep her jaw in it's normal position. This was about the strangest thing she'd ever heard. _Why would the Air Force want me? _She hadn't exactly been their friend in the past, so she couldn't see why they wanted her now.

"I guess it couldn't hurt to see what they want, right?"

"Yeah," he said, still computing what had just happened. The Air Force asking for a civilian? It was pretty unlikely.

"What about Kitty?"

"He said she could come with us, they'd arrange for childcare in Colorado Springs while we met with whoever we're going to see."

Elizabeth frowned. She was a little wary of bringing her young daughter with her on anything relating to military, but, then again, it couldn't be too dangerous if they were summoning her, too. At least, she hoped not.

"Well, I guess we're goin' to Colorado."

--

**SGC**

**0720 hours**

_Knock, knock._

John Sheppard groaned. Though he had heard the sound,it wasn't quite computing in his brain what he was supposed to do about it.

_Knock, knock._

Oh, right, that was the door. _I suppose I should get that_, he mused. But the majority of his head was telling him his bed was much too comfortable to leave.

"Col. Sheppard, I know you're awake," called an exasperated Dr. Weir from the other side of the door. "We have a briefing in an hour." She knew John would be awake from the first knock. He was an incredibly light sleeper, demonstrated by the number of times he had fallen asleep during a briefing and still managed to answer a question directed at him.

Finally, John decided he might as well be polite and open the door. As he moved towards the door, he glanced groggily down at his Air Force t-shirt and navy blue boxers, but decided to let it go. She had seen him covered with rain, sand, blood, and couple other things that either didn't have names or he didn't want to mention, and he didn't need to worry about looking a bit tired. _I shouldn't even being worrying about in the first place_, he thought, mentally reprimanding himself.

At long last, he reached the door, now a little more coherent. Turning the door knob, he was greeted a by an entirely all too cheery Weir. He sighed.

"What?" he said.

Looking him over, Elizabeth couldn't help but burst out laughing. It looked like his bad case of intergalactic bed-head was even worse on Earth. _Or maybe it's inter-reality travel…_

"Yes, interrupting my sleep is exceptionally amusing," John said with obvious sarcasm.

Fighting hard to suppress her giggles, Elizabeth raised an eyebrow. Why was she giggling? She didn't giggle. Never. Ever. Finally calming down, she looked sternly at John.

"Like I said, we have a briefing in an hour. Unless you want to go looking like this?" she said, chuckling again at the thought. _Stop that_, she told herself.

"Very funny." He looked again at her cheery expression. "How can you be so…awake right now?"

"It's not that early, John, and I'm used to waking up at this time."

"You really should sleep more."

"You've said that before."

"And it's still true."

Elizabeth quickly changed the subject. "Do you want me to bring you some breakfast? I'll be in the commissary for a while, you can come when you're done."

"I won't be long, just need to comb my hair and change."

Another giggle escaped from Elizabeth's mouth. "You? Comb your hair?"

"Yes," he replied, glaring at her.

"Alright, I'll let you get to it then."

"Thank you," he said, shutting his door. Passing his bed on the way the bathroom, he briefly considered going back to sleep. But the responsible side of him (since when did he have a responsible side?) urged him onward. Sighing, he grabbed some BDUs off a chair.

--

_Just one more line_, she thought. Staring intently at her laptop screen, she searched desperately for the right words. She needed this report done by the end of the week, but as the flight progressed, she was becoming increasingly distracted. Sighing, she looked to her right at her daughter who was tugging urgently at her sleeve.

"Sweety, Mommy's trying to work," she said, though Katherine's sweet smile was beginning to melt her will.

"And why would Mommy want to do that?" a grinning John Sheppard asked.

She turned to him, her face wearing a mock glare. "Because Mommy doesn't want to lose her job," she replied, though in her eyes, all seriousness was lost.

Kitty pulled at her arm once more. "Please, Mommy, look out the window," she pleaded, with her father mirroring her puppy dog face.

"Alright, you two." She sighed, leaning over towards one of the small windows of the plane. Looking out, she smiled. The view was beautiful; she could see sweeping forests below and a crystal blue sky all around them. If she squinted, she thought she could see snow-capped mountains in the distance.

"We're just passing into Colorado," John said, seeing the look of wonderment in Elizabeth's face. He loved that look. Well, he loved all her expressions, even the angry and annoyed ones. He couldn't help that she looked, if possible, even more beautiful when she was mad. He also couldn't help that often those looks were directed at him. And that he loved her even more for it. All in all, he couldn't help that he was on occasion every bit an insufferable idiot. _I'm going to pretend I didn't just admit that to myself_, he thought.

Kitty's voice interrupted his musings. "It's beautiful, isn't it, Mommy?" Though he was mostly used to it by now, Kitty's clearly articulated sentences and growing vocabulary still amazed him a bit, they were certainly quite formidable for a 5-year-old. Then again, how could he expect anything less from Elizabeth's daughter?

"It is," she said, turning to both of them as she settled herself back in her seat. Glancing at her laptop again, she finally decided to give up. It really wasn't that important, and she didn't know how long she'd be gone. She had been given indefinite leave for this summons, and she was starting to get the impression that whatever it was, it was pretty big. No one got that much leave for just anything.

"We should be coming in for landing soon," John said, an eager spark in his eyes. Elizabeth laughed when a few moments later, the pilot announced their descent. Knowing him, he'd probably thought about running into the cockpit and flying the plane himself a few times. Though she could never possibly rival his love for flying, she could understand why he loved it so much. _It's probably much more fun when you're not stuck in a stuffy cabin for hours_, she thought.

She watched as little Katherine laughed at her father's eager expression. "You're silly, Daddy," she said, and John pretended to pout. He looked towards Elizabeth, smirking.

"She's your daughter."

"Uh-huh, and you had absolutely nothing to do with it," she countered sarcastically.

They both were laughing now, as they felt the plane move toward the ground. Elizabeth felt light and happy, and she hoped that was a good omen for the days to come.

--

Col. Carter sat in her lab, pondering their current situation. Even without what was originally the only quantum mirror they knew about, they still seemed to get themselves mixed up in alternate realities. And then it hit her. With all the excitement over Atlantis and the new intel they got, she'd completely forgot about it. Entropic Cascade Failure. She groaned. She had seen firsthand how painful that could be. How could she have forgotten?

Getting up quickly, she glanced at her watch. There was still 30 minutes left till their briefing with Col. Sheppard and Dr. Weir. And now she had one more thing for them to discuss. Not only that, they needed to step up their work on making sure their guests could get home. With that, she ran down the corridor toward Gen. O'Neill's office.

--

ACT BREAK!

Elizabeth: Is there time for some coffee?

John: Probably, you had months to get some last time.

Elizabeth: But we were asleep between chapters 2 and 3, John.

John: Wow, that's one long nap.

Hehe. Alright, I'm done. Before I go, thank you to all my reviewers. You guys are too nice. And also, to Dreamer with a Dancer's Heart. Honestly, I admit I hadn't even thought about entropic cascade failure. nervous laugh It hadn't really factored in, I suppose since it was in the way of the rest of my ideas. But I do have to deal with it, otherwise I'd be kicking myself. So I started a bit of it here.

Ok, I'll stop rambling now. Hope you like this!:D


	5. Life Out There

AN: Yes. Shocking I know. An actual update. I'd just like to say that I do intend to finish this story. At this point if I'll do pretty much anything to get myself to do it. It needs to be finished, and, truthfully, _I'd_ like to see how the story turns out. Maybe this'll teach me a bit about how to finish things. Anywho, enough about me.

**Chapter 5: Life Out There**

Silence hung thick in the air of the steadily moving elevator, two of its occupants' thoughts drifting far beyond the confines of the box.

Elizabeth had never much liked briefings. Even after marrying an Air Force Major, she still wasn't anywhere close to the military's best cheerleader. "Briefing" just seemed to her like an official word for a simple exchange of information. To her, that was a meeting, a negotiation even.

She groaned, knowing her little analysis of a harmless word was just her brain's way of keeping herself from the subject at hand. She had to face the facts.

But life on other planets? Why couldn't they have told her they were building some super-bomb? Then she would know what to think.

That was it, wasn't it? She didn't know what to think. Information had entered her brain that didn't have a file folder yet. That was what made it so frightening.

She, like everyone else, had wondered at least once in her life. What was out there? What don't we know yet? What her head wasn't prepared for was the turn that idle speculation took to truth.

At this point, she was surprised she was taking it so well. This should be a huge revelation, but instead…instead, she had already moved on to another subject.

What did this have to do with her?

Supposedly, the answer to that question would come at the end of this elevator. She'd never seen one go so slow.

Laughing at the silliness of that thought, she looked over at her husband. His face was almost unreadable. She knew that face. He wore it whenever he couldn't show any emotion (or didn't want to). Right now, that he couldn't decide what that emotion should be. He was deep in thought about….well, _that_ should be obvious.

John vaguely heard his wife's quiet laugh. Internally, he wondered at her ability to shake this off. _But, _he thought, _I really shouldn't be surprised._ They had both always been like that; nothing seemed to faze them much. Apparently, even their knowledge of the galaxy being completely changed.

Whether for fear of waking from a dream or reluctance to bother the young airman in the elevator with them, neither of them wanted to speak. There wasn't much to say anyway. What _was_ there to say?

Now, all that was left was the thought: _why us?_

The elevator slowed to a stop and slid open.

--

"Are you nervous?" Dr. Weir looked questioningly across the table at Col. Sheppard, while taking a sip of her drink. At this very moment, their counterparts were meeting with Gen. O'Neill and SG-1; Jack had sent them to take an early lunch. She thought this was a rather good idea, and not just for the sanity of the newcomers.

"Are you?" John replied. Elizabeth raised her eyebrows, and after a pause, he answered her properly. "A little. Not much."

"It seems silly, but I'm worried she'll be better than me."

"For what it's worth, I doubt that."

She smiled slightly, but then sighed. "Thank you. I wish I could believe that."

"You know, she's probably thinking the same thing right now."

Choosing to direct the conversation away from herself, Elizabeth continued. "So, what about was Col. Carter said?"

"What did she say? I was contemplating how much easier it was to listen to her explain something than Rodney."

Elizabeth laughed. "And one would think that would mean you understood it better. The bit about Entropic Cascade Failure."

"Yeah. Sounds painful."

"John. Really."

"Really what? It doesn't sound like there's much we can do about it if it does happen."

"But it does mean we need to remember that we need a sure way of getting home. We can't get too caught up in all this briefing and debriefing without working on that as well."

They both were silent for a minute or two. Elizabeth nibbled at the remnants of her lunch, while John enjoyed a cup of pudding (which struck Elizabeth as amusingly childish).

"It'll be strange explaining things to ourselves."

"Extremely."

They stared at each other for a moment before bursting out laughing at the absurdity of the whole situation.

"I hear I outrank him," John said, his voice leveling once more.

"You're going to enjoy that, aren't you?

He grinned. "Come on, how often do you get to show off your accomplishments to your past self? Well, not past self…could-be self? Oh, you know what I mean."

"I do. I guess the opportunity's just too good to pass up," she said with a smirk.

The table returned to quiet once again. Elizabeth tried to somehow absorb John's good humor at their situation, but she couldn't help the feeling that their next meeting would be anything but easy. The idea of meeting herself…of course, she had read about SG-1's previous experiences involving quantum mirrors, but she also knew that there was a lot more to it that hadn't been said in the reports. She wasn't looking forward to inevitably comparing her own life to what could have been.

Pulling herself out of her thoughts, she glanced at her watch.

"They should be finished talking to…the other us by now, I should think. Gen. O'Neill said he'd send someone to summon us."

"I wouldn't be surprised if they're not exactly on time. Imagine explaining the Stargate Program to someone and then telling them they'll be meeting their alternate selves. All in one day. They'll probably need time to let it sink in."

"I might. You'll probably just jump straight to asking about alien spaceships," she countered with a chuckle.

"Oh, that reminds me. I get to fly way cooler stuff than he does."

"Just don't rub it in too much. He'll probably have something to make you jealous." She paused. "Honestly, I don't know how I'm going to deal with two of you."

"Well, you'll have an extra Elizabeth to help out."

They both smiled, and looked up, noticing someone standing by their table.

"Dr. Jackson!" She grinned. "I hope Gen. O'Neill doesn't usually waste you on escort duty."

"I offered. This will be a big meeting, I thought you'd like to see a friendly face beforehand.

"Ha! I knew it!" John said, smirking. "They're our evil twins!"

Elizabeth shot him a stern, but amused, glare.

"Okay," she said, taking a deep breath. "Lead the way."


	6. Introductions

AN: Well, this is it. They're finally going to meet! The moment of truth. ;) Anywho, I loved writing this chapter and I hope it comes across.

**Chapter 6: Introductions**

_Well, this is going to be interesting._ Dr. Jackson had just left to go get their alternate selves. A pair of people that looked exactly like them – that _were_ them. _At this point, _Maj. Sheppard thought, _that doesn't sound that strange._ He had heard a lot of things today, to the point where he was beyond shock and could actually be somewhat curious to meet this alter-John.

Looking sideways at his wife, he could tell she was a bit nervous, and he didn't blaim her. One of them should be nervous, or he'd be worried about their collective sanity.

All sorts of questions kept popping into his head. How did this Elizabeth get involved with a military program? What did his counterpart do to outrank him? _He's probably some sort of goody two shoes,_ he though, but pushed it from his mind. He shouldn't be judging someone he hadn't even met yet, even if it was himself. What was it like to live in another galaxy? Do they have football?

Are they even married? John didn't want to think about that. If they weren't…would it mean that _they_ should be? Or that _he_ shouldn't be? Maybe their worlds were just different enough that it wasn't an issue either way. John decided then and there that no matter how many promotions or spaceships this guy had, he had Elizabeth and she was worth a whole heck of a lot of spaceships. Nevertheless, he knew he might have trouble remembering that in the coming days.

_Stop worrying about this!_ As much for his comfort as hers, he reached over and squeezed his wife's hand under the table. It would be an adventure.

At that moment, he heard footsteps coming up the staircase to the briefing room. Immediately, he schooled his features to appear nonchalant, and knew Elizabeth would be doing the same. _She's probably better at it,_ he thought with a small smile.

And then there they were. He would have said it was like looking in a mirror, but that was obvious. They quietly walked over to the table and sat on the opposite side. He found a little relief in the fact that it looked like they were trying to appear calm just as much as he and Elizabeth were. The silence seemed to hang like a heavy curtain.

Gen. O'Neill broke the tension. "Well, here we are. Introductions? Handshakes?" He was greeted with a quartet of relieved smiles.

Dr. Weir was first to reply. "Of course. Though I think we already know each other's names."

Following her lead, Col. Sheppard continued. "Then maybe we should work out what to call each other so we don't get mixed up."

Jack looked thoughtful, then answered, pointing to each in turn. "Col. Sheppard, Maj. Sheppard, Dr. Weir, and Dr. Sheppard."

At the last name, an involuntary look of confusion flashed across two of those present. Once she had gotten over her initial reaction, Dr. Weir looked over at Jack, who was grinning to himself.

"Couldn't resist, could you?" _That's right, use humor to diffuse the situation. Don't think about what he just implied._

"Oh, I could've sworn I mentioned they were married," Jack said, clearly enjoying himself.

He only got a raised eyebrow for that. Dr. Sheppard smiled. Exactly how she would have handled it.

Elizabeth Sheppard had to admit, she was finding plenty of entertainment in analyzing the interactions of Dr. Weir and Col. Sheppard. Now that it was established that they weren't married, it was time to work out what their relationship really was. For now, she would simply observe, storing everything for later when she could discuss it with John. At the present, they probably had better things to talk about than romance. She smiled inwardly as her husband finally spoke, trying to direct the conversation to other matters. Maybe she had rubbed off on him a bit.

"So…what are we supposed to be discussing?"

"Generally, this is just your time to ask questions. About Atlantis, about what it's like. It's not unthinkable that both of you might be included in, if not in charge of, our own Atlantis expedition," Daniel explained.

"Really?" Dr. Sheppard asked, incredulous. "I'm sorry, I'm just surprised. I would think you would want a military officer in command."

As he always did, Col. Sheppard immediately jumped to her defense, though the irony of defending her to herself was not lost on him. "Like I said to Gen. O'Neill, I think, considering the diverse groups of people on the expedition, that you – well, her, but I can't imagine you're that different – are the best for the job. I know a majority of the civilian population would prefer it that way."

The briefing continued, and gradually the participants fell into easy conversation, though still treading lightly over the subject of personal relationships. The Sheppards could tell that though they tried to hide it, the two reality travelers were anything but indifferent to the revelation. So, out of sympathy, they tried to keep mentions of it to a minimum. On the other side of the table, Dr. Weir and the Colonel never more that glanced at each other for the rest of the meeting. Both were anxious to retreat to their rooms where they could think in peace.

--

_Married. They just had to be married._ He knew he shouldn't be mad at them. There was no reason to be. It wasn't their fault. But they had upset his carefully constructed wall enclosing part of his thoughts. Ones pertaining to Dr. Elizabeth Weir. Ones that told him to screw their jobs and responsibilities and those invisible lines that weren't supposed to be crossed. So far, he thought he'd been doing pretty well. But no, they had to be married.

He had been doing _really_ well, if he thought about it. It was rare that he was ever in a position to not pursue a woman. Back on Earth (their Earth), he'd had plenty of girlfriends. He wasn't oblivious to the fact that he attracted attention. And, under normal circumstances, there would be nothing stopping him from starting something. Under normal circumstances, those women weren't his boss.

That was just it, wasn't it? She was in charge. Of course, there weren't _really_ rules against it. She was still a civilian. But he knew that wouldn't stop someone in the government telling them that their relationship was a liability. That it clouded their judgment. He wasn't going to put her in that position. He certainly wouldn't be _giving_ them a reason to doubt her.

Besides, none of that mattered unless something was in danger of happening. Because there was another thing about Elizabeth Weir. She was different. He knew he was being vague, but that was the only word he could think of. His friends back in college would have said she wasn't his type. And he would have probably agreed. But then, he was a different man now. Obviously, his type had changed. Or maybe the whole idea of types was ridiculous to begin with.

Even if she was his type, he had a feeling he wasn't hers. He wondered how this Sheppard had managed it.

John groaned. He and Elizabeth had spent the evening after the meeting ignoring each other, barring the required polite conversation. They'd both gone to bed early. He'd flipped through the channels of the TV in the corner, but quickly given up. She was probably reading – or something equally useful. He wondered what was going through her head. Whether she was amused, or shocked, or annoyed, or just mulling the information over with her usual diplomatic aplomb. He also wondered when he would stop obsessing over what she was doing at the moment, and whether he would ever get to sleep that night.

--

One thing was true: Elizabeth was actually reading. Or trying to. If she really wanted to admit it, she'd been reading the same line for the past hour. It was a good thing she didn't want to admit it.

_Well, he _is_ attractive._ She shook her head, willing the thought away without much success. Of course he was. Any woman would have to be blind not to see that. If she were in her teens, she might have called him hot. But she wasn't a teenager anymore, no matter how much she was acting like one.

Why him? He wasn't safe. He was reckless – a risk taker. He could be killed; she knew that firsthand. He wasn't stable, nothing her head told her she wanted. He certainly wasn't like Simon.

At that thought, she mentally reprimanded herself for it not being the first thing she had thought of. The truth was, Simon Wallace had been quite far from her mind since she had left Earth. Deep down, she knew he was the logical choice. But not the choice she wanted to make.

It was all getting so ridiculous. She had read the files and knew that there had been an alternate reality where Gen. O'Neill and Col. Carter had been married. There was even another where they were engaged. It was almost surreal that the same thing was happening to her. It made her want to seek out Sam for advice, but she knew she shouldn't. She could only hope that this whole thing would blow over, and that she would be able to look him in the eye when they got home.


	7. Disobedient Kiddies

**Chapter 7: Disobedient Kiddies**

Elizabeth smiled. All things considered, it had been a good day. Sure, she'd learned about aliens…and met herself from an alternate reality…and there wasn't any natural light in the SGC…but things had gone well. Even Kitty was happy; after their meeting, she and John had returned to the surface with Col. Carter (or Sam, as she insisted Elizabeth should call her) to pick up their daughter, since she would be staying with Sam for the night. Elizabeth was greatly comforted by the fact that her daughter would be in the hands of someone familiar, even if they had just met that day. She'd always been able to recognize when someone was trustworthy, and she knew that both Gen. O'Neill and SG-1 were worthy of her good opinion.

Turning around, she saw John in the bathroom, brushing his teeth. "So, what do you think?"

She heard him mumble for a moment before thinking better of that and removing the brush from his mouth. "About what? There's a lot of things to think about."

"Let's start with the…other us. Dr. Weir and Col. Sheppard."

Smirking a bit, he replied, "They seemed nice."

Rolling her eyes, she pressed on. "I can't imagine what their lives must be like. I don't even know what I'd do in her situation."

John rinsed his mouth his mouth and set everything in order before returning to the main room. "Well, fortunately, you can just ask her."

"That's just the thing. There are so many things I wish I could just ask her, but I know I shouldn't. Not things like what we talked about today; more personal things. Likes and dislikes, emotions –"

"What their relationship is?"

"Yes, that." She looked a little sheepish.

"I've been thinking about it, too."

She nodded. "I wish I knew what it's supposed to mean. That they're not married and we are."

By then, they had both got into bed. Liz had a book next to her, though she had no intention of reading at present.

"Maybe it just means their situation is different. Well, obviously, it is. For all intents and purposes, she's his boss. Now, I admit I'm not the type to let work obligations stop me, but theirs isn't your typical office."

"You're probably right. And from what I could see, there's no lack of potential. They barely looked at each other for the rest of the briefing after they found out. If there wasn't anything there, it wouldn't have struck such a chord."

"I had a feeling you'd be watching them," John quipped.

She only smiled. Talking to John was alleviating a lot of her (_mostly irrational,_ she thought) nervousness over what the relationship of their alternates meant in the grand scheme of things. She had to remember that they may be the same people, but they were still different. Different lives, different situations. She was herself, she was married to John Sheppard, and that was _her_ reality.

--

**0600 hours**

Elizabeth Weir woke with a less than pleasant feeling of apprehension. A moment later she realized why, and became very annoyed with herself. _Why am I letting this get to me?_

She groaned, knowing she wouldn't be getting back to sleep.

Ten minutes later, she was on her way to the mess hall for a (very) early breakfast. It was almost empty except for a few airmen and a woman sitting off to the side eating a bowl of cereal. Elizabeth recognized her immediately. Quickly grabbing some food, she took a deep breath and sat down across from Elizabeth Sheppard.

She seemed much more at ease than Dr. Weir felt, which simultaneously comforted and annoyed her.

"You're an early riser, too?"

Elizabeth nodded with a small smile. She almost said something about Col. Sheppard berating her if he knew she was up but thought better of it. Instead, she forged on.

"I wish this wasn't so awkward."

Liz laughed. "Me too. We're – well, I am, you'd have to ask John – sorry for the surprise."

"No, don't be, you have nothing to be sorry for. We're the foreigners here." She paused. "It just seems to be the luck of people in this program. To find out they're married to one of their colleagues in an alternate reality," she said, trying to keep the tone light.

"Really?" Dr. Sheppard replied, clearly amused.

Elizabeth grinned. "You know Gen. O'Neill and Col. Carter? They were married – in an alternate reality, obviously. That's probably why he decided not to tell us. Decided he'd have some fun at our expense."

"He does seem like the type to do that."

Both were quiet for a few seconds.

"It's weird…I can't imagine my life without Atlantis anymore."

"And I still can't imagine what it's like there."

Elizabeth smiled as she thought of it. "It's beautiful. Everything's so alien…but not in an unfriendly way. There's these lovely little balconies everywhere…one by my office that I always use to think." She chuckled. "Or argue with John," she added, without realizing that she was doing what she wanted to avoid: talking to _Mrs. Sheppard_ about _him._ Oh well, too late now.

"So you have your own balcony," she said, mater-of-factly. Elizabeth shot her a glare, but her heart wasn't in it.

"Rodney likes to say it's where "Mommy and Daddy go to talk about what they're gonna do about the disobedient kiddies". Though, _of course_, he doesn't consider himself one of the "disobedient kiddies"." She rolled her eyes, trying to keep her fact neutral and not think about how she just referred to her and John as "Mommy and Daddy", even in quotations. Why couldn't she just not talk about him? _It's inevitable_, an annoying voice in her head told her.

"Are we going to keep skirting the subject?"

Dr. Weir was caught off guard and couldn't hide her obvious reaction. Not that it would have worked if she tried. This woman _was_ her, was _married_ to John, and probably knew almost exactly what she was thinking.

"Can I get back to you on that?

Liz gave a comforting smile. "Of course. I would, however, like to hear about Col. Sheppard's intergalactic mishaps."

Letting out a breath, she nodded. She could do that. She may not be able to hide from Elizabeth Sheppard, but she had nothing to fear from her either.


End file.
